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Crumbling and falling apart, wife's dream mansion that husband hated to be restored

You can watch a report from ITV Anglia's Stuart Leithes here:

Overstone Hall in Northamptonshire has been in ruins ever since it was destroyed by a fire in 2001.

Originally built for Lady Overstone in the 1860s, the 114 room mansion was a huge disappointment to her husband.

Lady Overstone died in 1864 before her design was finished but her husband hated the house so much he refused to stay there.

In a letter to a friend Lord Overstone expressed his dislike of the mansion, he wrote: "The new house, I regret to say, is the cause of unmitigated disappointment and vexation. It is an utter failure..."

Eventually, when Lord Overstone died in 1883 his daughter Harriet inherited the property. It is said she only used the mansion for hunting trips in the winter.

In the 1920s Overstone Hall was used as a school.

By the 1920s Overstone Hall had been turned into a school. The New Testament Church of God bought it to use as their headquarters in 1979. By 2001 a major fire caused it to collapse.

For 16 years it has sat empty - the shell continuing to crumble. Now developers Barry Howard Homes have bought the grade 2 listed building.

Lord Overstone hated his wife's design.

We have looked at different options, whether that might be - hotel, offices, training centre, residential, and those plans are starting to come to fruition now.

The primary goal for the local authority and Barry Homes is to fully restore this building to its former glory.

– Barry Howard, Developer

A consultation is being held later this month to showcase the developer's plans.

The late Lord Overstone vowed never to set foot in the mansion but 150 years later the stately home that shares his title is getting a new lease of life.